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4/20/16

Leave it to my three children to dig up a cannonball in the backyard and cause a viral interest and news crews stalking us down! Actually, Mackenzie was the finder. She is the queen of mud pies in the backyard and I had no idea she had even found it until she brought it inside and put it in the bathtub to start washing it. When it hit the tub and about cracked it in half, I came rushing in and called Tim!! He came home and we confirmed with a friend that it was indeed a piece of history! I posted my fun picture of the cannonball, below, on our city facebook page thinking a few neighbors might think it was interesting, and low and behold everyone lost their mind. We had people sending us messages, local diggers wanting to come excavate my yard, and then our local news station calling, emailing, texting, and hunting us down. We decided to let them come and Mackenzie got to share her news story on camera, ha!! It was a really special find. We live about 1 mile from Sherman's Headquarters in Downtown Marietta and it was a great opportunity to talk to our kids about the Civil War. Here is a link to the news story: http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/109018922-story

A few weeks later, we went down to Savannah for Spring Break! We are really into kayaking as a family and we decided to camp on Skidaway Island for 5 days (now that I'm typing it I sit in the gravity of how simple it sounded in my head versus in writing). And actually, I made it 4 days, not 5. After the 4th day, I called it done and we drove home that night :) It was definitely a memorable trip, our kids had a blast. *I will add my parents came along and were next door with a huge 50ft. RV. So, don't feel like I was roughing it too bad!! Although my children are older now, traveling is still so much work. We push through, but the amount of planning, packing, and patience is really unbelievable. I don't know why we just don't stay home. But we don't. So, following our Civil War lesson, Sherman's March to the Sea ended in Savannah. I love kayaking with our kids because it's exercise, everyone is contained to their own boat, and we are all moving in the same direction (physically and quite often with our attitudes ;) We researched a historical river that boasts some of the most amazing scenery. We kayaked down the Ebenezer River, known for The Betrayal at Ebenezer Creek, a sad story to tell our kids also from the Civil War.

Under the order of General Davis, the Union army reached the Ebenezer River with hundreds of freed slaves that had joined in the quest for freedom. They were allowed to come along, but had to help along the way. When troops reached the river they built a bridge to cross, but plotting how they were planning on leaving the slaves behind. After troops were crossed, the bridge was severed. Hundreds of freed slaves were drowned, killed, and those that lived and stayed behind went back into slavery.

I hate that story exists and is apart of our history. How I hope and pray there were survivors. There were people that fought and made it and victory was won. It was a dark and heavy feeling, but also one of awe, knowing that both sides of these groups were now buried. I would much rather be a slave in this story than a soldier, to die fighting instead of the one that chose myself.

The water down this river is full of the most beautiful cypress trees, swamp life, and has black waters. It is the most beautiful, peaceful, humbling, and holy water I have ever been down. It was sobering to go through these waters and think about history and the actions of others that came before us. Mackenzie was so moved when we put our boats in and asked a lot of questions. She said, "Im so mad at those people. That's so mean, it's just not fair." I told her those slaves were in a far better place and I asked her how she thought it would feel to live if you were one of those people who made that decision to cut the bridge. And that every day they had to live with the choices they made and ultimately be held accountable to their actions. It is better to live a holy life and it be ended quick than to better yourself and live into an old age.

If you ever get the chance, take your family down this river. It is a truly amazing experience. They have guided tours and times of the year that are best because trust me...... swamp life is real and we had a few close calls!! Mom's boat hit what we thought was a tree, but actually a black snake that my kids now swear was the Loch Ness. Wrong story, kiddos!!

This was a good verse to follow up with my kids, "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" Micah 6:8
To end on a light note, I'll share a happy pet story.
The last exciting thing that happened this month was my parent's 16 year old Chihuahua "Paco" went on a little Milo and Otis adventure. Okay, not really, but that is what my mom keeps telling herself. Paco was taken out of their yard in Kennesaw and then found 48 hours later completely across town at a Target in Alpharetta (roughly an hour away).
We turned to social media. We blew up the internet with pictures of Paco and everyone was on the hunt. We stayed up until wee hours with flashlights in the woods and became the psycho pet owners. About 48 hours in, a animal rescue volunteer matched up our photo with an animal shelters photo across town!!! Would you believe 5 other black chihuahuas had been found and texted to me over the course of 2 days?? How many black chihuahuas were lost exactly?! As soon as this photo was sent below, I was losing hope, but zoomed in, and we were 100% sure it was him!! The caption above the photo says, "HarleyStray.jpg" and our little Paco wears a Harely Davidson collar.

Yay for lost dogs being found, yay for social media being useful sometimes, and shame on whoever picked him up out of my parents yard. No one likes a pet snatcher, I will hunt you down :)